411 Box Office Report: The Dark Knight Delivers Biggest Opening EVER
Posted by Ashish on 07.20.2008
Dark Knight debuts #1 and smashes records on the way...
The Dark Knight debuted #1 at the box office this weekend, earning $155.3 million! The film also had a massive per theater average with $35,579 per theater. The film set all kinds of records including the biggest one -- biggest opening weekend ever! The previous record was $151.1 million set by Spider-Man 3. The film also broke records for biggest midnight opening ($18.4 million, beating Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) and biggest single day/opening day ($67.8 million, beating Spider-Man 3). The film did $67.8 million on Friday, $48 million on Saturday (second biggest Saturday ever), and $39.4 million on Sunday. The film had a $180 million budget and should soar past that in the next few days.
Mamma Mia debuted at #2 with $27.6 million. The film had a budget of $52 million.
Hancock fell one spot to #3 in its third weekend, earning $14 million to improve its total gross to $191.5 million. The film had a budget of $150 million.
Journey to the Center of the Earth fell one spot to #4 in its second weekend, earning $11.9 million to improve its total to $43 million. The film had a budget of $60 million.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army fell four spots to #5 in its second weekend, earning $10 million to raise its total gross to $56.4 million. The film had a budget of $85 million and may not turn a profit in domestic theaters now due to such a big second weekend drop (71% drop).
Wall-E fell two spots to #6 in its fourth weekend, earning $9.8 million to bump its total gross to $182.4 million. The film had a budget of $180 million.
Space Chimps debuted at #7 with $7.3 million.
Wanted fell three spots to #8 in its fourth weekend, earning $5 million to improve its total gross to $123.3 million. The film has been a big hit, easily surpassing its $75 million budget.
Get Smart fell three spots to #9 in its fifth weekend, earning $4 million to improve its total gross to $119.5 million. The film is already profitable, passing its $80 million budget.
Kung Fu Panda fell two spots to #10 in its seventh weekend, earning $1.7 million to bump its impressive total gross to $206.5 million. The film has been a huge hit, soaring past its $130 million budget.
BOX OFFICE TOP TEN
1. The Dark Knight - $155.3 million ($155.3 million)
2. Mamma Mia - $27.6 million ($27.6 million)
3. Hancock - $14 million ($191.5 million)
4. Journey to the Center of the Earth - $11.9 million ($43 million)
5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army - $10 million ($56.4 million)
6. Wall-E - $9.8 million ($182.4 million)
7. Space Chimps - $7.3 million ($7.3 million)
8. Wanted - $5 million ($123.3 million)
9. Get Smart - $4 million ($119.5 million)
10. Kung Fu Panda - $1.7 million ($206.5 million)
I am kinda suprised that he barely beat Spiderman 3 considering the inflation from this year.
Posted By: Adam (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 04:45 PM
An August release date for Hellboy would have probably been better. It was stuck between Hancock and The Dark Knight.
Posted By: Joseph Lee (Registered) on July 20, 2008 at 04:45 PM
Space Chimps never had a chance....
Posted By: HarveyTwo-Face (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 04:51 PM
This is very misleading. Movies typically spend 50% of their cost for promotion. If a movie cost $100 million to make it needs to make $150 million to break even. So for example to say that Hancock is already profitable isn't true. It cost $150 million to make, so it roughly needs to make $225 millions to be profitable. Not like it's a big deal but if someone is going to post the numbers at least be accurate.
Posted By: Mike G (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 04:53 PM
Thanks for the thorough breakdown. I love the way you include the budgets for the films. It helps put things into perspective, regarding "Mamma Mia," "Hellboy 2," and "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
Keep up the good work.
Posted By: Mitch (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 04:58 PM
Perhaps I don't understand the way box office totals are handled, but here in the real world its still Sunday and the theaters are still open for another 8 hours. Is there a weird system in place that stops Sunday early for the totals?
Posted By: Pat Shepard (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 04:58 PM
I was wondering the same thing about Sunday Totals. It's still the weekend, so how are they able predict the total?
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 05:53 PM
The Sunday totals are estimated based on formulas they have. This is always how they do weekend box office totals as the final official numbers don't even come in until Tuesday. But the estimates are almost never off by more than $1 million or so. Infact, I don't ever remember a case where the weekend report differed from the Tuesday report in any noteworthy way.
Posted By: Guest#9970 (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 05:56 PM
I would assume he factored that in when he was formulating the budget.
Posted By: The Dude (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 06:09 PM
I am kinda suprised that he barely beat Spiderman 3 considering the inflation from this year.
Posted By: Adam (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 04:45 PM
He?
No one thought TDK would come close to SM3 as TDK is not a child friendly film, I doubt many parents who had a clue about the movie have taken their children to see it: Because of this Spider-Man 3 had a massive advantage over TDK yet TDK still beat it.
TDK is also a far superior film to SM3 and is much more deserving of the record.
Posted By: Guest#6263 (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 07:13 PM
it deserves every penny, it was a great film
Posted By: a guy (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 08:18 PM
you mean Mamma Mia did come in first?
oo, and EPIC WIN
Posted By: Litas Biggest Fan (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 10:20 PM
Dark Knight was awesome. I predict this movie will surpass 400 million in theatre sales over the summer. Joker was the best character in the movie. No other film stood a chance this weekend.
Posted By: Jonathan Byrd (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 10:23 PM
I think they usually figure that if a film meets its budget in domestic box office, then it will almost definitely make a profit, as its international take and DVD sales/rentals usually cover the advertising/marketing spending. If domestic box office falls way short of the production budget, then the movie will have a hard time making up the difference, as well as the marketing budget. Obviously, I'm sure there are many exceptions to both of these "rules", but for most films, this model fits.
Posted By: Jeff (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 10:26 PM
Mike G: "cost $100 million to make it needs to make $150 million to break even. So for example to say that Hancock is already profitable isn't true. It cost $150 million to make, so it roughly needs to make $225 millions to be profitable. Not like it's a big deal but if someone is going to post the numbers at least be accurate."
According to Boxofficemojo.com HANCOCK has made $371,318,933 worldwide, so far.
So I think it's safe to call it "profitable."
Posted By: J.R. LeMar (Guest) on July 21, 2008 at 02:04 AM
Heath's legacy fulfilled. Well done to all involved on one of the best films this century.
Posted By: T.G. Corke (Registered) on July 21, 2008 at 01:37 PM
But what about MEET DAVE?!
Posted By: Guest#8447 (Guest) on July 21, 2008 at 02:13 PM
What, no one wanted to see Brock Samson as a chimp?
Posted By: Guest#3875 (Guest) on July 21, 2008 at 03:06 PM
